For one week each year, the streets of Antigua, Guatemala, are filled with the smell of incense, the sound of drums, and hundreds-of-thousands of pilgrims that line the former colonial capital’s atmospheric cobbles.

This is Semana Santa, or Holy Week, which is a series of observances and parades in the run-up to Easter, celebrated not just in Guatemala, but across the entire Roman Catholic world. Holy Week festivities are famed for their elaborate, noisy, dramatic and drawn-out parades, and the capirotes (long hoods) worn by marching participants. It is widely regarded that Antigua's procession leads the way in terms of lavishness, but in small and large pious communities across the world, and in almost every town in Spain, similar observances take place, each with their own unique distinctions.

As always at Picfair, we have our buyers in the forefront of our minds, and we like to keep ahead of the game when it comes to showcasing incredible content. Not only have our photographers provided us with stunning shots of the processions in Antigua, but we also have a wealth of exceptional imagery from a multitude of other Holy Week festivities across the world; ideal for Easter features and campaigns for the months ahead. So why not take a look at our showcase of some of the best in the collection?

Antigua, Guatemala - April 19, 2014: Penitents in an Easter procession during the Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala
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Editorial

Antigua, Guatemala - April 19, 2014: Silhouette of men wearing black robes and hoods spreading incense in a street of the city of Antigua during a procession of the Holy Week in...
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Antigua, Guatemala - April 19, 2014: Silhouette of men wearing black robes and hoods spreading incense in a street of the city of Antigua during a procession of the Holy Week in Antigua, Guatemala
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Licences available

Editorial

A young bearded man with blood on his head and wearing a crown of thorns, dressed as Jesus Christ , carries a large wooden cross through a village during a ceremony that imitate...
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A young bearded man with blood on his head and wearing a crown of thorns, dressed as Jesus Christ , carries a large wooden cross through a village during a ceremony that imitates the crucification of Jesus Christ. In Semana Santa (Easter), in Mexico.
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